Folding top for vehicles.



PATENTED MAY 5, 1903.

W. T. & E. Y. TEMPLE. FOLDING TOP FOB. VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1902.

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N. 727,492. n PATENTED MAY 5, 1903.

W. T. @L E. Y. TEMPLE. FOLDING TOP EOE VEHICLES.

. APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1902.

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PATBNTED MAY 5, 419x03.

W. T. & E. Y. TEMPLE. FOLDINGvTOP FOR VEHICLES.

APPLIGATI'DN FILED SEPT. 19, 1902.

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amarla/gfx@ Unirse i STATES Patented May 5, 1903.

PATENT Qrricn.

VILLIAM T. TEMPLE AND EDWARD Y. TEMPL, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

FOLDING TOP 'FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 727,492, dated May 5, 1903. Application tiled September 19, 190,2. Serial No. 124,082. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known that we, WILLIAM T. TEMPLE vand EDWARD Y. TEMPLE, citizens of the United States, and residents of Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Folding Top for Vehicles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention has for its object to provide a folding top for vehicles which may becompletely stowed in the hollow back of the vehicle-seat, a further object being to provide novel details of construction for the seat and top whereby the vehicle-top may be actuated to elevate it when folded by the manipulation of a crank-handle at the front ot' the seat.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts,as is hereinafter described, and dened in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improvements shown in place on a vehicle-seat. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View of the same substantially on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side view of the vehicle-seat and of the vehicle-top frame, partially folded for stowage. Fig. 4 is a like view of the seat and a side View of the top folded and partially insel-ted within the seat-back. Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional View substantially on the line 5 5 in Fig. 6. Fig. G is a sectional rear side elevation of the seat-back substantially on the line 6 6 in Fig. 5, showing the completely-folded top-frame stowed in the seat-back. Fig. 7 is a sectional plan View substantially on the line 7 7 in Fig. 2. Fig. S is a transverse sectional View of other novel features substantially on the line 8 8 in Fig. 5, and Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view substantially on the line 9 9 in Fig. 1.

The invention may be applied upon any wheeled passenger conveyance having a seat and a back therefor, the latter for concealment of the vehicle-top when folded being preferably formed as a box-like receptacle.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a vehicle-seat having a skirt-board 10a and a side railing 10b. The seat-back 10C is in the form of a substantially rectangular boX, the rear Wall of which is preferably lower at the top'edge than the parallel front wall,but the end walls are equal in height with the said front wall.

A cover 10d is provided which extends from the upper edge of the rear wall of the hollow back 10e and bends at a proper height forwardly, thus filling the opening at the topof the back when in place over the back. Preferably the cover lOdis hinged at 'its lower transverse edge upon the rear wall of the hollow back, so as to be permitted to fold outward and downward, said hinged connection appearing at ct in Fig. 5.

The frame for the folding top is shown devoid of a covering for the sake of clearness and comprises as principal members three novel cover-supporting bows which will be described in their order.

The rearmost bow of the set consists of an arched top piece 11, that may be constructed of any suitable material and is bent near its ends, so as to provide two short depending limbs 11, parallel with each other.

A sliding frame 12 substantially rectangular and consisting of light strong metal-bar material is held to reciprocate vertically in the hollow back 10C by the loose engagement of a tongue-block b, formed or secured on each upright end portion ot lthe rectangular frame 12 within la correspondingly-grooved guide-piece b', projecting from the front wall of the back 10, as shown for one of said connections in Fig. 7, said tongue-and-groove connections also appearing in Figs. 2 and 6. The depending limbs 11a of the rear boW of the folding top are each hinged upon a respective upper corner of the sliding frame 12, these hinge connections consisting, respectively, of a rule-joint formation c, that is arrested from further tleXure when the end uprights on the frame 12 are alined with respective limbs 11. A spring-pressed pawl c/ is provided for each rule-joint c, and when the joints c are adjusted to dispose the frame 12, alined with the members 11, on the rear bow 1l said pawls engage with shoulders on the rule-joints, so as to hold the latter rigid until the pawls are purposely released, this adjustment of parts being indicated in Fig. 1.

The middle bow of the vehicle-top is provided with an arched top piece 13, having two depending parallel members 13, hinged IDO at their ends upon the upper ends of two similar prop-bars 13b, these connections d being rule-joints so disposed that the prop-bars may be folded inwardly or toward each other,

but cannot flex outward beyond a vertical plane, the prop-bars being in effect eXten-.

sions of the limbs 13a. The remaining bow for the top-frame is formed with an arched joints g upon the front edges of the prop-bars 13", near the lower ends of the latter, so that thefront bow may be folded closely upon the middle one when this is desired.

Two similar spacing-bars each formed of two members 15a are furnished to connect A the front frame-bow with the middle framebow 13. The members 15 15 .of each spacingbar are rule-jointed together by adjacent ends. of the same, as at 72 and the forward` ends of the members 15 are respectively pivoted atc' upon the depending limbs 14 of the front frame-bow. 'Ihe remaining ends of the two spacing bar members 15a are hingejointed at 7c upon thevdepending limbs 13 of4 the middle frame-bow, as indicated in Fig. 1.

Themiddle frame-bow having the dependi ing limbs 13a+ is foldably connected with the rear top.- bow having the depending limbs. 1la by a pair of spacing-bars, each consist-- ing of two members 16 16a. The members 16 16 forming each of these spacing-,bars are rule-jointed together, as indicated atm in Fig. 1,.while the rear end of the member 16 of each of said spacing-bars is lappedupon and pivoted to the depending limb 1la at a corresponding side of the top-frame, as shown at fn. in Fig.. 1.

The rear end of each spacing-bar member .15 is connected with a respective forward end of a spacing-bar member 16 to produce a rule-joint lc, and, as before mentioned, said joints -respectively are pivoted upon the depending limbs 13 of the middle frame-bow 1,3. It will be seen that the joints mand h, that respectively connect the members 16 162t and 15 15 of the opposite spacing-bars, that respectively connectthe rear frame-bow 11 with the middle bow 13 and the latter with the forward bow 14, `are arranged to fieX, so

that the bar members may move upward atY their rule-joints m hand when so adjusted permitthe folding of the three bows together, the pivot-points i, 7c, and n coacting with said rule-joints to eect such a result. p

The arms at the sides ofthe vehicle-seat 10 each comprise a front post 10e, erected at the front of the seat, near an end thereof, and a stationary rail 10g, supported horizontally by engagement of its ends with the top of the post.- and .front-wall of the seat -back 10c. Upon the fixed rail 10g at each end of the seat another rail 10'l is pivoted, said pivot connection o serving to loosely secure the frontend of a rail 10h on a corresponding fixed rail, so that the pivoted rail may be rocked up- Vward and removed at the rear end thereof from engagement with the hollow back 10C.

As shown in Fig. 9, asuitable slot-like space 0 is provided between the xed rail 10g and pivoted rail 10h, this space affording a free passage for the lower end of each propbar 13". The fixed rail 1()g at each side of the vehicle body is cut away throughout its length, so as to produce a preferably convex track p thereon at the inner side of a guard- .flange p', and, as clearly shown in Fig. 9, a

footo2 is formed on the lower end or" each prop-bar 13", these feet being concaved in their lower surfaces for engagement with the convex tracks p.

The lower surface of lthe hinged rail 10h, that is mounted on each fixed rail 10S, is concaved, so as to closely engage with the convex top surface of a respective foot p2, which will thus be held from release when the hinged 4rail is secured, but will be permitted to traverse the slot o', occupied by the prop-bar 131? and foot thereon.

The hinged rail members 10 at their rock-v y able rear ends vmay each be detachably held in folded condition by means of a slide-bolt o2, that'at its latching end enters a notch,

formed to receive it in the front wall of the hollow back 10C when the slide-bolt is slid toward said notch, as shown in Fig. 5, audit is to be understood that this interlocking engagement of the slide-bolts o2 with the seat.-

.back may be effected either by spring-pressure or by manipulation, as may be preferred.

It will be evident that the three top framebows 11,13, and 14 may beheld reliably spaced apart by adjustment of the spacing-bars at each side of the frame, so as to aline their members, and thus fully open the rule-joints h fm, that willbe held open by the tension of IIO the vehicle-top covering A, that is represented by a dotted line in Fig. 1, coacting with the other means. The tension of the top-covering A is not sufficient to hold the vehicle-top in opened condition during a storm of wind, and to render the top stable when erected a positive lockis provided for each prop-bar 13b, one lock being shown in Fig. 9, which locks are constructed as follows: A slide-bolt- 1' is loosely engaged .in a transverse perforation in each rail member 10h and has a knob or the like on its end that projects from the fixed rail member 10g wherein the bolt slides.

A socket or transverse perforation is formedr in the corresponding prop-bar 13, that occupies the slot 0' for the reception of the oppotgo stitfened by the braces 12, diagonally secured between the upper frame-bar 12b and lower frame-bar 12c by aflixing corresponding ends thereon, as represented in Fig. 2. A toothed rack-bar 12l1 is centrally and vertically secured in the frame 12 by the fixture of its ends upon the transverse frame-bars 12b 12C. A tubular box 17 is secured upon the lower side of the seat-board 10 and extends from the front portion of said seat rearwardly at or near the center of length of the seat.

In the tubular box 17 a hollow shaft 18 is loosely held, this shaft having a crank-handle 18a secured on its end nearest the front end of the tubular box 17. Into the forward end of the hollow shaft 18 a shaft extension 18b is inserted, the latter comprising a cylindrical body portion extending from the rear end of the hollow shaft 18 through another box 17, hanging from the seat 10 in axial alinement with the box 17. On the forward end of the shaft extension 18 a plurality of wings s are formed, that loosely occupy spaces between similar wings s', projecting inward from the inner surface of the hollow shaft 18 at and near its end nearest the box 17. (See Figs 5 and 8.)

It will be seen that if the rear end of the shaft extension 18b is held from sliding forwardly the hollow shaft 18 may by a pull on the handle 18' be drawn forwardly, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5, and thus effect the interlocked engagement of the wings s s', whereby the turning of the crank-handle 18:L will rotate the hollow shaft 18 and the shaft extension 18b together in either direction, as may be desired.

The rear end of the shaft extension 18b projects from the rear end of the box 17a sufficiently to receive a sprocket-gear 17h, connected by asprocket-chain 17c with a sprocketgear mounted and secured on a short shaft t, heid to rotate on the rear side of the front wall of the hollowr back 10C. Upon the rear end of the shaft t a spur-gear tt is secured, which meshes with the teeth ou a vertical rack-bar l2, and it will be seen that by rotating the crankhandle 18 in a proper' direction the rotary movement transmitted to the spur-gear u will elevate the sliding frame 12 from the bottom of the hollow back 10 to a point near the top of said back, as represented in Fig. 2, the lowered adjustment of the frame 12, that may be effected by an'opposite rotary movement of the crank-handle 18, appearing in Fig. 6.

Vhen the sliding frame 12 is fully elevated, a detent-latch bolt 'v is automatically engaged at its latching end within a notch formed in the back of the rack-bar 12d, said bolt being pressed toward the rack-bar by a spring fv, as indicated in Fig. 2.

When the frame of the vehicle-top is to be folded compactly and introduced within the hollow back 10c, the slide-bolts r are manipulated for release of the prop-bars 13b, so that said bars, along with the arms 13C, may be slid toward the frame 12 and the erected rear frame-bow 11, carried by said frame. The prop-bars 141 of the front bow 14 are now folded against the middle bow 13, and this folded adjustment of the front bow will introduce the free ends of two keeper-arms 11b, that project forwardly from the depending members 11a, through looped formations tu, that are on the depending portions 14:9 of the front bow 14, which will keep the three bows folded and prevent lateral strain on their' joints, this relative adjustment of parts being shown in Fig. 3. The next step in the folding operation consists in the release of the lower portions of the prop-bars 13b and feet p2 thereon from the arms on the vehicleseat. To eect this, the slide-bolts ozare retracted, as well as the slide-bolts fr, which will permit the hinged rail members 10h to be rocked upwardly and also permit the connected lower ends of the prop-bars 14:b 13b at each side of the Vehicle-seat to be folded toward each other, the flexure of the rulejoints de permitting this inward-folding movement. The length of the prop-bars 13b 14S is such as will allow the pair of said bars at each side of the vehicle-top to fold toward and against the rule-joints c, which connect the depending limbs 1l on the rear frame-bow l1 with the upper corners of the frame 12. As the frame 12 is still fully elevated, it will be obvious that by releasing the pawls c the folded bows 13 14 and attached braces thereon may be rocked rearward and downward on the hinge-joints c, so as to insert the lower ends of the prop-bars 13b 14b within the hollow back 10c at the rear side of the frame 12, as is shown in Fig. 4. The operator now turns the crank-handle 18a in a proper direction forlowering the slidingframe 12, which when fully lowered will effect the disposal of the folded frame of the vehicletop completely within the hollow back 100, whereupon the hinged cover 10d may be rocked upon the upper edge portion of the backpiece 10c, thus concealing the folded frame and protecting the same from the elements. When the top-frame is stored in the hollow back 10C, the tubular shaft 18 may be moved rearward, so as to dispose thecrank-handle 18a`beneath the seat 10, and thus completely house the entire foldable top and its attachments.

Obviously a reversal of the described folding operation will serve to erectl the folding frame above the vehicle-seat 10 to receive a suitablecovering for the protection of the occupants of the vehicle.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent* 1. A folding topframe for vehicles, comprising three bows having depending members; prop-bars respectively connected with the ends of said members on the front and middle bows by inwardly-flexing rule-joints,

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two spacing-'bars at each side of the top-f rame, each spacing-bar consisting of two portions, a rule-joint connecting these portions of each spacing-bar and adapted to flex upwardly, and means for supporting the top-frame erected upon a vehicle-seat. j

2. A folding top-frame for vehicles, comprising three bows, each bow having two dependinglimbs, aslidably-supported quad rangular frame jointed at its upper corners on the dependinglimbs of one of the frame-bows, prop-bars jointed on the depending limbs of the remaining frame bows, spacing bars adapted to flex upward between theirl ends, pivot connections between said ends and the depending limbs on the bows, and means for supporting the bows and quadrangular frame elevated on a vehicle-seat.

3. A folding top-frame for vehicles, comprising three bows, each bow having two dependingr limbs, a slidably-supported angular frame, joints connecting the top of the angular frame with one of the bows on the ends of its depending limbs, spring-pressed pawls adapted to lock said joints from flexu re, propbars jointed on depending limbs of the remaining bows, spacing-bars adapted to flex upwardly between their ends, pivot connections between said ends and the depending limbs on the bows, and means for supporting the bows and angular frame elevated on a vehicle-seat.

4. The combination with a foldable topframe for vehicles, of a hollow seat-back, a cover for the top of said seat-back held to rock thereon, and means for lowering the folded top-frame into the hollow back of the seat when the cover is removed.

5. The combination with a foldable topframe for vehicles, held to slide upon the arms of the vehicle-seat, and longitudinally thereof, of a hollow back for the seat, and a device operative from the front of the seat and adapted to lower the folded top-frame into the hollow back and also elevate said topframe for removal from the hollow back.

6. The combination with a foldable top, frame fol.` vehicles, depending prop-bars jointed upon the bows of the top-frame, anda foot on each prop-bar, of seat-arms formed with slots wherein the prop-bars and feet are adapted to slide, and means for detaching said prop-bars and feet from the-seat-arms.

7. The combination with a foldable topframe for vehicles, comprising bows, depending prop-bars on the bows, foldable spacingbars thereon, and an angular frame jointed on the rear one of the bows, of a hollow seatback, wherein the angular frame slides, a rack on the angular frame, and gearing in the hollow back engaged with the rack and operative from the front of the vehicle-seat, and adapted to move the rack and frame into and out of the hollow seat-back'.

8. The combination with a hollow seatback, and upright guides therein, of a quadrangular frame slidably engaging the guides,

and foldable portions of a top-frame jointed upon the upper portion of the slidable frame.

9. The combination with a hollow seatback, and a quadrangular frame held to reciprocate therein, of a foldable top-frame, rule-jointed upon the upper portion of the reciprocal frame.

10. The combination with a hollow seatback, and two spaced guides having upright grooves, of a frame having side members slidably engaging the grooved guides, and foldable portions of a top-frame jointed upon the slidable frame.

l1. The combination with a hollow seatback, guides in said seat-back, anda frame having side members loosely engaged with the guides, of sprocket-and-chain gearing held in the hollow seat-back, and means for operating said gearing to reciprocate the slidable frame.

l2. The combination with a frame held to slide in a seat-back, of a rack on the frame, gearing connected with the rack, and a shaft that is adjustable for length, and is hung below on the seat, and adapted by rotation to actuate the gearing for reciprocation of the slidable frame` 13. The combination with a frame held to slide upright on a seat-back, of a vertical rack on the frame, a spur-gear rotatably supported and meshing with the rack, sprocketgearing connected by a chain and adapted to transmit motion to the spur-gear, a shaft carried by the seat and adapted to actuate the sprocket-gearing, and means for turning the shaft.

14. The combination with a plurality of frame-bows for a vehicle-top, spacing-bars having jointed members and pivoted at their ends on the bows, and depending prop-bars jointed on sundry of the frame-bows, of two slotted seat-rails loosely engaged by two opposite prop-bars, and spring-pressed slidebolts adapted to hold said prop-bars stationary on the slotted rails.

l5. The combination with a frame held to slide on a seat-back, a rack on said frame, and gearing connected with the rack, of a two-part telescoping shaft held to rotate on the seat, and a crank-handle on an end of the shaft.

16. The combination With a plurality of frame-bows for a vehicle-top, and foldable spacing members thereon, of two laterally-extended keeper-arms on one of the frame-bows, and loops on another of the frame-bows,adapt ed to receive and hold the keeper-arms when the bows are folded together.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

v JOHN H. KEEFER, WM. W. HOWELL.

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